Every successful business has a story. Sometimes, the most important chapters begin when everything seems to be falling apart.
Starting Out With Almost Nothing
When Emery and Mary Yoder began their married life, they didn’t have much. During their first three years of marriage, they didn’t even have a table and chairs. They eventually found what they needed at a yard sale for just $5. Someone later gave them a couch.
Their beginnings were humble, but they were building a life together.
Like many young couples, Emery and Mary were learning what it meant to make ends meet, stretch a dollar, and navigate the unexpected challenges that come with starting a family. Just four months later, their lives changed again when they welcomed their daughter, Ellen.
With a new baby came new responsibilities, including hospital bills that quickly consumed what little money they had. But for Emery and Mary, their daughter was worth everything.
Life was teaching Emery some of his earliest lessons about responsibility, sacrifice, and what truly mattered.
Working Hard, but Still Struggling
That winter, Emery was working between 60 and 80 hours a week. Despite all those hours, there never seemed to be enough money. Rent, food, and heating oil all had to be paid, and making ends meet was a constant struggle.
At one point, Emery’s situation became so difficult that he couldn’t afford to buy heating oil for their home.
When his brother heard what was happening, he contacted the fuel company and paid to have their 250-gallon tank filled.
It was a simple act of kindness, but one Emery never forgot.
That experience stayed with him throughout his life. He understood firsthand what it meant to need help, and he remembered the people who stepped forward when he needed it most.
Sometimes, the smallest acts of kindness leave the biggest impressions.
Finding His Way Into the Pallet Business
Eventually, Emery began working for his father in the family pallet shop.
It was an opportunity to learn the business from the ground up, gaining firsthand experience in an industry that would eventually become the foundation of his future.
But learning the business and owning one were two very different things.
In 1993, Emery took a major leap of faith. He purchased the pallet shop from his father.
At the time, the operation was small, with just three employees producing approximately three to four loads of pallets each week. Emery borrowed $60,000 to make the purchase, despite having no house or land to use as collateral.
It was a tremendous risk for a young business owner with a family to support.
There was no guarantee of success, and the financial pressure was enormous. Still, Emery was determined to make it work.
He had taken the first major step toward building something of his own.
When Everything Went Up in Flames
Just when Emery was beginning to establish himself as a business owner, disaster struck.
In the year of1994, a fire destroyed the pallet shop, taking everything with it.
For someone who had borrowed $60,000 to purchase a business and was already struggling financially, losing the shop and its equipment could have been the end of the road.
At the time, Emery believed it might be the end of his dream of owning a business.
He had worked hard to get where he was, only to see everything disappear in a matter of moments.
But sometimes, the events that feel like the end of a story become the turning point that changes everything.
Looking back, Emery would eventually describe the fire as the best thing that ever happened to him.
He couldn’t have known that at the time. All he could see was what he had lost and the uncertainty of what would come next.
Leaning on Faith, Family, and Friends
The period following the fire was one of the most difficult seasons of Emery’s life.
He ran out of money. At times, he could barely make payroll or pay his bills. He spoke with many people, searching for advice, encouragement, and a way forward. There were moments when he genuinely wondered whether he could continue.
Yet he also discovered the importance of listening to people who had walked similar paths before him.
Emery began seeking advice from older, experienced business people he affectionately came to call his “gray-haired heroes.”
They had lived through their own challenges and understood the realities of building and sustaining a business. Their experience offered something valuable: perspective.
Instead of trying to figure everything out alone, Emery listened, learned, and put their advice into practice.
Faith, family, friends, and hard work helped him through a season when the future was far from certain.
Their encouragement reminded him that difficult circumstances did not have to define the rest of his life.
Learning That Business Is About More Than Business
One unexpected lesson came through Emery’s relationship with his bankers.
While he was still working through the challenges of building his business, his bankers invited him to go turkey hunting with them. Emery thought they must be crazy. He was trying to keep a business running, and they were inviting him to take time away from work!
But he went.
That experience taught him something he would carry with him throughout his career: business owners need more than long hours and hard work. They also need relationships, perspective, and time to step away from the pressures of running a company.
Emery came to understand that success isn’t simply about how much work you can accomplish in a day. It’s also about the people you build relationships with, the advice you are willing to accept, and your ability to manage the stress that comes with responsibility.
Those relationships helped him navigate the difficult years and reinforced the value of surrounding himself with people who wanted to see him succeed.
The Foundation of Something Greater
Emery’s early years in the pallet industry were not a straightforward path to success. They were filled with uncertainty, financial pressure, unexpected setbacks, and moments when giving up may have seemed easier than continuing.
But he kept going.
He learned from experienced people, accepted help when he needed it, and continued working toward a future he could not yet see clearly.
The fire that once seemed to destroy his dream would become a defining moment in his story. The struggles taught him lessons that no business textbook could provide, and the kindness of others showed him the lasting impact people can have on one another.
These experiences helped shape not only the business owner Emery would become, but also the values he carried forward.
At Pilgrim Pallet, our story is rooted in more than pallets. It is a story of perseverance, relationships, and the belief that hard times do not have to be the end of the road.
Where We Are Today
Today, Pilgrim Pallet continues to build on the foundation Emery established through faith, hard work, and resilience. The challenges of the early years shaped the way we approach our work and the way we serve our customers, employees, and community.
Our core values are integrity, honesty, accountability, loyalty, and teamwork. These values guide how we make decisions, how we treat people, and how we work together each day.
Emery’s story reminds us that success is not built overnight. It is built through difficult seasons, faithful relationships, responsible choices, and the willingness to keep moving forward.
This is where we are today: continuing the work, honoring the lessons of the past, and building the future of Pilgrim Pallet together.
And this is the final part of Emery’s story.
